Malachi 1:13

13 "What a weariness this is," you say, and you sniff at me, ^[a] says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.

Malachi 1:13 Meaning and Commentary

Malachi 1:13

Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness [is it]?
&c.] These are either the words of the priests, saying what a wearisome and fatiguing business the temple service was to them, for which they thought they were poorly paid; such as slaying the sacrifices; removing the ashes from the altar; putting the wood in order; kindling the fire, and laying the sacrifice on it: or of the people that brought the sacrifice, who, when they brought a lamb upon their shoulders, and laid it down, said, how weary are we with bringing it, suggesting it was so fat and fleshy; so Kimchi and Abarbinel, to which sense the Targum seems to agree; which paraphrases it,

``but if ye say, lo, what we have brought is from our labour;''

and so the Syriac version, "and ye say, this is from our labour"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "and ye say, lo, from labour"; and the Septuagint version, "and ye say, these are from affliction"; meaning that what they brought was with great toil and labour, out of great poverty, misery, and affliction: and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts;
or, "blown it" {p}; filled it with wind, that it might seem fat and fleshy, when it was poor and lean; so Abarbinel and Abendana: or ye have puffed, and panted, and blown, as persons weary with bringing such a heavy lamb, when it was so poor and light, that, if it was blown at, it would fall to the ground; so R. Joseph Kimchi: or ye have puffed at it, thrown it upon the ground by way of contempt; so David Kimchi: or, "ye have grieved him" ^F17; the owner of the lamb, from whom they stole it; which sense is mentioned by Kimchi and Ben Melech; taking the word rendered "torn", in the next clause, for that which was "stolen". Jarchi says this is one of the eighteen words corrected by the scribes; and that instead of (wtwa) , "it", it should be read (ytwa) , "me": and the whole rendered, "and ye have grieved me"; the Lord, by bringing such sacrifices, and complaining of weariness, and by their hypocrisy and deceitfulness. Cocceius renders the words, "ye have made him to expire"; meaning the Messiah, whom the Jews put to death: and ye have brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the
sick; (See Gill on Malachi 1:8) and if the first word is rendered "stolen", as it may, this offering was an abomination to the Lord, ( Isaiah 61:8 ) : thus ye brought an offering;
such an one as it was: or a "minchah", a meat offering, along with these abominable ones: should I accept this of your hands? saith the Lord;
which, when offered to a civil governor, would not be acceptable, ( Malachi 1:8 ) and when contrary to the express law of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (wtwa Mtxphw) "et efflastis illam", Montanus; "anheli isto estis", Tigurine version; "exsufflare possetis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, "difflatis", Drusius; "sufflavistis illud", Burkius.
F17 "Et contristastis illum"; so some in Vatablus.

Malachi 1:13 In-Context

11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and the food for it may be despised.

13 "What a weariness this is," you say, and you sniff at me, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.

14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.

Footnotes

• [a] Another reading is [at it]